


The Lost City of Insomnia

by Rikamae



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Best Friends, EVERYONE LOVES EACH OTHER, Fluff and Angst, He wants to be where the people are, IgNoct, M/M, Merman Gladio, Multi, Mutual Pining, Noctis is Tsundere, Slow Burn-ish?, This story was done but then I realized I could make it better so here I am rewriting as I go, mermaid au, merman noctis, prompto is a good boy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-02-15 21:19:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18677575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rikamae/pseuds/Rikamae
Summary: Even young Prompto knew of the old Legends. Over hundreds of years ago, the city of Insomnia sank to the bottom of the ocean, taking the king and his citizens with it. Nobody knew much about what followed, but Prompto knows. Of course he would: His best friend was a merman.In an attempt to gain recognition for his discoveries, Prompto tries to convince his academic adviser that he really does know a merman. Ignis is skeptical from the moment Prompto opens his mouth, right up until the moment he see's him with his own eyes-Noctis is the most beautiful merman he had ever seen.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [That’s Why It’s Hotter (Under The Water)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17868521) by [raspberrymocha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raspberrymocha/pseuds/raspberrymocha). 



> This chapter has been rewritten with the aid of a Beta Reader! I will try to update this story every Wednesday. I hope everyone enjoys!

Waves brushed against the white sands of Galdin Quay on the overcast day. Alone sat a young boy by the name of Prompto, who sunk his toes into the newly wet sand. He sat resting his arms against his knees as he stared at the foaming waves, his eyes blank behind his glasses. 

The boy absentmindedly brought his hand up to rub his sore cheek. The purple bruise spread far across his pudgy cheek. His lip quivered, and he dropped his hand back to his knee. A bitter smile spread across his face. “You really did it now, Prompto,” he whispered as he dragged his eyes across the horizon. He let out a heavy sigh. “I just had to speak my mind, huh? I just had to talk back to that big bully? There’s no way they’re gonna let me go back to that school…”

He propped his forehead against his knees, taking in a shaky breath. The dark clouds seemed to thicken above him, threatening to release its rainfall at any moment. Prompto’s fists clenched around the fabric of his pants. “Why can’t I just…?”

The water stirred in front of him. Prompto’s head snapped up. He yelped in surprise, kicking his feet forward and falling back as he tried to back away from the water. Peeking out from above the waves was a pair of clear blue eyes, framed with slick locks of black hair. 

Prompto shook his head, blinking his surprise away. He thought he had been alone. 

The head in the water raised more, revealing a boy close to his own age. The boy’s brow furrowed in concern. “Are you okay?”

Prompto took a deep breath. “Yeh… yeah. You just scared me.”

The boy tilted his head. “You looked like you were about to cry.”

“Was not!”

“Was too!”

Prompto frowned. “I’m fine… I just wanted to be alone.” 

Why did he lie to the boy? Even Prompto didn’t know. It seemed to be what Prompto did sometimes; he was too afraid of rejection, so he rejected the opportunity before they even had the chance. 

In a stroke of luck, or perhaps fate, the boy in the water didn’t believe him. He gave a coy grin, pushing his arms beneath him and lifting his torso out of the water. “Do you want to play?”

Prompto was shocked, but slowly he smiled. “Sure, but… I don’t have my swimsuit.”

“That’s fine!” The boy beamed. “I’m Noctis!”

“I’m Prompto,” Prompto held out his hand. 

Noctis tilted his head at the action. He stared at Prompto’s outstretched hand wearily, as if it would bite him.

“It’s… a handshake,” Prompto stated hesitantly, vaguely wondering if he was doing something wrong.

“Oh?... Oh!” Understanding shone in Noctis’ eyes. He leaned forward with one hand outstretched, gripping Prompto’s hand. Prompto shook it once, and Noctis laughed. He retracted his hand, making a fist and crossing it over his chest. “It’s nice to meet you!”

Prompto was confused, but mimicked Noctis’ action, smiling when seeing Noctis’ pleased expression. 

Noctis lowered himself into the water more, pointing his finger towards the other end of the beach. “I’ll race you to end of the beach. Me in water, and you on land.”

Prompto was a little uncertain. He wasn’t the most athletic kid, and surely Noctis could tell by looking at his filled-out form. Not to mention running on the beach was rather difficult. Then again, swimming sideways and fighting against the waves would surely put them on even grounds. “Okay, you got it!”

“On your mark,” Noctis braced himself to fight against the waves.

“Get set…” Prompto tensed his arms and bent his knees.

“Go!” they shouted together, and Prompto took off running, occasionally checking on Noctis whilst checking his unsteady footing. Noctis was doing butterfly strokes, keeping up just in time with Prompto. They ran away from the pier, towards the rocky alcove at the end of the beach. Prompto kicked up the white sand as pushed himself to keep going forward.

Prompto huffed as he looked over his shoulder. The boy in the water seemed to be swimming with all of his might, fighting against the crashing waves with a determined look upon his face. Something in Prompto stirred, and he found within him a competitive spirit. He was going to win this race, no matter how hard it was. 

With newfound determination he put his legs into overdrive. He was a foot ahead, and then five, and then seven feet ahead. Noctis called out from behind him, laughter in his voice. “Hey, you’re fast!” Prompto turned to shoot a smile Noctis’ way, and that’s when he lost his footing. He tumbled forward, rolling over once. When he came to a stop, he was facing in Noctis’ direction, his glasses falling off of his nose and barely hanging on by his ear. 

When he focused his eyes on the water, he saw the worry on the boy’s face. “Prompto!” Noctis called before diving underwater. 

That’s when Prompto saw something he couldn’t comprehend. A tail, black as the night sky, following Noctis under the water. 

In what felt like no time at all, Noctis was beside him, shaking his shoulder. “Prompto, are you okay?”

Prompto shakily lifted himself up, rubbing his eyes before he saw everything that was in front of him. Noctis was next to him on the shore and… he had a tail. It was black with gold speckling along the frills of his fin. The frills of his fin were long, curving into a crescent moon shape, and there were golden pelvic fins on either side of his body. His fin met his body in fading scales, slowly transforming into his pale skin. Looking back to Noctis’ face, Prompto finally noticed the pointed, fanned ears and the diagonal gills along his neck, slightly obscured by his long black hair. 

“You’re… a merman?”

“Yeah,” Noctis frowned, eyebrows creasing in worry as he looked upon Prompto skeptically.

Prompto starred up at him in awestruck wonder. “Are you… gonna take me away?”

“What?” Noctis’s upper lip curled in disgust. “Why the heck would I do that?” 

Prompto blinked. “Because that’s what merpeople do; they take humans far away, or drown them…”

Noctis looked shocked, shaking his head furiously. “No! No way! We… I would never do that!” he tried to smile, but worry remained etched on his face. “Besides, how could we hang out if I took you away?”

Prompto continued to stare, a grin slowly spreading across his face as he began to laugh. 

Noctis tilted his head. “You’re not scared of me?”

Prompto’s grin was from ear to ear, “Are you kidding? You’re amazing!” Noctis was taken aback, blinking as Prompto shot his fists into the air. “I never thought I could be friends with a merperson! I must be the luckiest kid in the world!” Prompto pulled himself up and sat with his legs crossed, fixing his glasses back on his nose. “What’s it like under the water?”

Noctis shrugged. “I don’t know, normal, I guess. What do you want to know?”

Prompto wanted to know everything. Noctis didn’t mind answering any of it. 

“Where do you live?” Prompto began, his eyes shining in anticipation.

“I’m from Insomnia; it’s a really big city under the water, but its location is a secret to humans, so I can’t tell you that,” Noctis hummed in amusement as Prompto gave a pout. “It’s not my fault humans can’t even remember where their capital used to be! It works out for us, though. We’re safe in Insomnia because nobody can find us.”

“What are you hiding from?” Prompto asked.

Noctis shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, humans I guess?” He reached up to scratch the back of his head. Prompto was momentarily distracted by the subtle webbing between Noctis’ fingers. “I guess I should ask my dad about that.”

Prompto nodded to himself. “Okay, but how do you talk underwater? If I talk underwater all I hear is bulb, bulb.” Prompto made a face as he mimed out his actions, pretending to be swimming and speaking. 

Noctis spat out a hard laugh, holding his sides and shaking his head. Prompto froze, grinning awkwardly, silently wondering if he had made a fool of himself. Noctis straightened himself out, wiping the corner of his eye. “You’re right. Common doesn’t travel well underwater. We speak in Mertongue. It’s easy to speak underwater,” Noctis tried to suppress the grin on his face. He reached a hand up to his neck, cupping his gills. “We kinda just use our gills and-“ a strange sound emerged from Noctis’ throat. It was somewhere between a whine and chirping, and Prompto gapped in awe. Noctis gave a cocky grin, “We can still learn Common if we want to, but it’s only useful outside the water, so most don’t.”

“Woah…” was all Prompto could manage to mutter. He stared at the merman for a while, causing Noctis’s tail to fidget as he awaited another question. Once Prompto realized he was staring, his entire face flushed. “What do you eat?” he blurted in an attempt to move the conversation.

Noctis chuckled at Prompto’s random question. “We eat fish of course!”

“No human’s on the menu?” Prompto asked, nervousness present in his voice.

Noctis scoffed. “Why would we eat humans? They’re sentient beings; basically our cousins. It would be like cannibalism!”

Prompto slowly smiled. “So merpeople are actually friendly?”

“Merfolk,” Noctis corrected. He rolled his eyes. “We don’t attack humans, we only practice self-defense.”

“Humans don’t just attack for no reason…” Prompto pursed his lips, hoping his words to be true.

Noctis pointed at Prompto’s face. “Really? Then how did you get that bruise? Did you do something to deserve it?”

Prompto’s eyes grew wide as he covered his cheek with his hand. “No…” He murmured to himself, casting his eyes downward. 

Noctis crossed his arms. “I guess bullies exist everywhere, huh? Well, sometimes humans bully Merfolk.”

“Then why do all the legends say that Merfolk drag people to the bottom of the sea? Why would they say you’re dangerous? Heck, even my school teaches beach safety from merpe- I mean, Merfolk!” Prompto watched as Noctis looked more and more astounded. Prompto scratched the back of his head, feeling kind of bad for throwing this all on Noctis. “I mean, not that you would do that… right?”

“I wouldn’t,” Noctis answered quickly, but his eyes searched over the horizon. “I hope nobody else would do that…”

“Right!” Prompto cheered. Noctis shot him a questioning glance as Prompto nodded his head. “If you can’t think of a time anyone of your kind has done that, then it must not be all that common, right?”

Noctis grinned at the positive boy in front of him. “Yeah.”

“Which means we can be friends, right?” Prompto grinned sheepishly. 

Noctis raised an eyebrow in amusement. “I thought we already were.”

Prompto erupted into laughter. “You’re right!” 

Noctis laughed as well, settling down to give a sad smile. “But, you can’t tell anyone about me.”

“Why not?”

“Well,” Noctis’ tail flicked as he worriedly scanned the empty beach, “I’m not actually allowed to talk to humans…”

“I getcha! It can be our secret then!” Prompto was about to reach out his hand, but stopped himself. He placed a closed fist over his heart with a goofy grin on his face. 

Noctis smiled back at the blond boy. He returned the gesture with a firm nod.

/0\

Noctis’ tail wiggled back and forth as he leaned his head into his hands, eyes scanning excitingly over the pictures spread across the sand. Prompto pointed at a picture of a meteor crashed into the ground, with strange, wispy formations surrounding it. “This is the disk of Cauthess! You can find this-“ Prompto pointed at a map laid to the left of the pictures, “Here! In the middle is the Meteor of the Six. It’s where the Archaean is, he holds the Meteor on his back! The Meteor produces energy that gets turned into power by the factories in Lestallum. And this is a volcano-“

Prompto continued his explanation of the pictures before them. 

This had become their tradition, to meet up at the beach of Galdin Quay on the weekends and share knowledge of their shared, but divided, world. Ever since Prompto had received a camera a few years ago as a birthday gift, he had shown Noctis the strange things that the merman claimed were impossible to appreciate without seeing. 

In return, Noctis told him more about his world. An urban landscape, with skyscrapers and subways tunnels alike, completely submerged underwater. At least, that was as Prompto has come to understand it. Noctis used different terminology, such as ‘housing spires’ and ‘the deep caverns’. The photographs helped bridge the disconnected worlds, letting the two teens come to better understand each other’s way of life.

“Your descriptions remind me of the old legends.” Prompto stated as he leaned on his splayed-out beach towel. 

Noctis look up from the picture reluctantly. “What old legends?”

“You know, the fallen Kingdom of Lucis.”

Noctis seemed to freeze. He slowly looked up to Prompto with curiosity in his eyes. “Kingdom of Lucis?”

Prompto blinked in surprise. “Yeah… Insomnia was the capital, you know?”

“I knew that!” Noctis chewed the inside of his mouth, avoiding Prompto’s eyes. “I wasn’t aware that it wasn’t called that anymore.”

“Yeah, now it’s addressed by its sections instead of a whole,” Prompto began, looking up at the sky whimsically. “The legends make it sound awesome, though. It was ruled by a King who was chosen by the gods, but now it’s just territory split between Tenebrae and Niflheim.”

“What section are we in?” Noctis asked, scanning his eyes over the map.

Prompto leaned forward, “Well, we’re in Galdin Quay right now…” Prompto pointed to their location on the map. He traced with his finger, following the coastline and then splitting the land in half. “So, everything to the right from here is considered Tenebrae. The Northwest is Niflheim territory.”

Noctis frowned at the map. “It seems so arbitrary.”

“It is!” Prompto whined. He flopped on his back and starred at the clouds. “The Oracle claims that one day the chosen king will return… Whatever that means. All we’ve ever really known has been this standoff that’s lasted for hundreds of years.”

Prompto peeked over to Noctis. The merman seemed distracted, completely lost in thought. The human boy wondered if he had actually said anything that interesting. This thought slipped from his mind as he reached into his pocket. “Oh yeah! I wanted to show you my new smartphone-“

As fast as he had brought it out, the device had been snatched from his hand. Noctis brought the screen nearly up to his nose, staring at the light in awe and wonder. Prompto chuckled at his friend’s childlike excitement, reaching forward and pulling the phone further from the merman’s face. “Chill, you don’t need it that close!”

“How do I use it?” Noctis asked excitedly. That was always his first question when Prompto showed him something new. Prompto unlocked the phone, and with a smirk took Noctis directly to a photo gallery. Noctis gasped, copying Prompto’s flicking motions to scroll through the vibrant pictures on the phone. “You really have been traveling a lot,” Noctis mused as he paused on a picture of a busy city street. Vendors stood behind stalls and haggled their wares to the people. Noctis was curious about all the items that were being sold. “Is this because you got your life-sense?”

“My license,” Prompto corrected, pulling out his wallet and flashing him the card with the same cheesy smile on his face as the picture. It read Under 21 Driver’s License, Lestallum, at the top. “Passed it my second time, baby!”

“Is it common to retake a…. driving test?” Noctis smirked when he saw Prompto sheepishly scratch his head. 

“Eh, it doesn’t really matter. What matters now is that I can finally go places without my parents,” Prompto pulled another envelope out of his bag. Noctis leaned forward as Prompto revealed more photos, his attention completely absorbed in the images. Prompto smiled at Noctis’ interest. “I can finally show you the things I’ve been describing all these years without them asking me why I keep taking these weird photos.”

Noctis flipped through the photos; images of cars and streets, photos of trees and animals that Noctis had never seen before, and pictures of food prepared in strange ways. 

He paused on a picture of a large building. A sign out front read ‘Lestallum University at Galdin Quay’. He flipped the photo towards Prompto. “What’s this?”

Prompto’s eyes lit up as he took the picture. “This! Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you!” Prompto beamed. “I’m trying to get into the college nearby! I’ll be double majoring in merbiology and photography, and I’ll be staying at the dorms!” Noctis stared at Prompto, simply blinking as his response. Prompto cocked his head to the side. “You don’t know what any of that means, do you?”

“No clue.” Noctis admitted.

Prompto grinned, taking on the challenge to explain everything for Noctis. “Going to college basically means I’m going to go to school for four more years. I’ll be studying the Merfolk and photography, and get a fancy certificate at the end that says I’m qualified to work in either of those fields. And I’ll be staying in dorms, which is like your housing spires filled with students. But shorter.”

Understanding slowly crossed Noctis’ face. “That’s great!” Noctis and Prompto shared a fist bump, which was their agreed method of interaction between them; a hand greeting that was less intimate for Noctis than a handshake. Prompto’s ended in a big explosion and Noctis could only laugh. “It must be nice to have all of that figured out.”

“Yeah, although my folks don’t like the photography part,” Prompto grimaced. “They think it’ll distract from my studies.”

“How could they say that after looking at these?” Noctis held up the photos for emphasis. Of course, Noctis had thought the amateur pictures Prompto used to collect for him were magical viewing portals to another world. But after years of accumulating pictures, even Noctis could tell there was something special growing with each picture his friend had taken. 

Prompto chuckled. “Thanks. It’s an important part of my dream,” Prompto raised his hand to the sky, as if he could already grasp the dream. Wind brushed his bangs out his eyes, and you could see the passion burning beneath them. “I want to be able to capture the beauty of the ocean, show people the magic that we’re missing. Maybe even close the distance between our peoples,” Prompto scratched the back of his head again. “Is that too cheesy?”

Noctis tried to hold a straight face. “Yeah, you should turn it down a notch.”

“Hah! Shut up!” Prompto punched Noctis’ shoulder, and both of them laughed. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Noctis became particularly fond of a picture of a lake to the north. He wondered what kind of fish swam in those murky waters.

“What’s in your future?”

Noctis should have expected this question eventually. He had just hoped that he would think of a good cover-up by the time the question actually came. Unfortunately, he had not. But he certainly couldn’t tell Prompto the truth; that he, was sure. He didn’t want the dynamic of their friendship to change because of his underwater status. It was one of the best parts of talking to Prompto; here he was just a normal merman.

Here, it didn’t matter that he was the crown prince of the lost city of Insomnia.

He had to improvise; his mind still distracted from the thought of exotic fish in unknown lakes. “I want to be a fisherman.” Lame, but it had to do, and it certainly peaked Prompto’s interest.

“You have fishermen? Like, with fishing poles and stuff?”

“What? No, we don’t use… poles. We can usually catch them by hand, or a net if it’s a school or a giant.”

“Is it hard?”

“Depends on the fish.”

“Do a lot of merfolk aspire to be fishermen?”

Noctis snorted. “No way. Most want to serve in the royal guard-“ Noctis regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.

“Royal guard? That sounds so awesome! Do they have cool armor and weapons?”

Noctis chuckled, pleased in knowing that his friend was still no closer to the truth. “Yeah, they get all of that.”

“Man, how could you not want to do that? That’s just too cool…” Prompto leaned back, eyes becoming dreamy and far away. 

Noctis also leaned back on his hands, looking up at the bright sky and flicking his tail in the water. Yeah, it was pretty cool. Gladio seemed to really enjoy his job, and Noctis was always grateful to his Shield. He just didn’t want Prompto to ask any more questions about that, lest he slip up and lose his cover. 

Sometimes Noctis thought that Prompto would be a great merman, but he pushed the thought aside. Prompto was leading a full life in the surface world, and that magic was surely lost to the waves of time.

Beeping from Prompto’s phone made the blonde gasp. “Oh man!” Prompto leapt to his knees, frantically collecting the photos. “I gotta go, gotta meet with my potential future advisor!”

Noctis tilted his head. “Advisor?”

“Yeah, Ignis. He’s a grad student at LU,” Prompto stuffed a bunch of photos in an envelope and haphazardly threw them into his bag. “I contacted him because of his focus in merbiology, and I’m gonna try to get on his good side to get me a leg up for entrance.”

Noctis reached for the picture of the Meteor. “Can I keep one of these?” 

The picture was snatched before Noctis could reach it. “Sorry, but these aren’t waterproof. It’ll just get damaged. I’ll work on waterproofing some for you in the future.”

Noctis gasped. “Can I get my own collection?”

Prompto chuckled. “Dude, I’ll make you a whole book of all your favorite picture!”

“All right, I’ll hold you to it.” Noctis held out his fist and Prompto bumped his knuckles against them. 

Prompto adjusted his shoulder bag and waved. “Gotta go! See you next weekend!” 

“Later.” Noctis called back coolly. He watched as Prompto ran across the beach, throwing his bag in the back of a large machine, known as a car, and driving off. 

Noctis sighed. That was sudden, but he figured he had had enough sun for the day anyway. The secret prince slid back into the water and made his way towards home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> College life begins and it's harder than Prompto thought! At least he can have a little fun with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't read the first chapter after I updated it, please do so! It is so much better after my lovely beta reader, Faultyparagon (fanfiction.net), helped me out!
> 
> Please enjoy chapter two!

“Ugh!” Prompto collapsed in the sand dramatically. He threw his arm over his eyes to keep the sun from blinding him. His camera hung from the strap around his neck, and Noctis knew the human would regret getting sand on both his equipment and his clothes. It seemed Prompto was in no mood to care at the moment, though. 

Noctis leaned forward on his favorite sun rock, crossing his arms and resting his head on them. “What’s wrong this time?” Noctis’ voice was teasing, but he knew that Prompto was having a hard time. Ever since he got into The Known History of Merbiology course at LU, he had hit one road block after another. 

Prompto threw his arm off his face and glared at the sky. “I wrote the most awesome paper last week about the lifecycle changes of the typical Merfolk, with specific reference to the deepening coloration of the tail and the development of scales around the gills after puberty-“ 

Noctis grimaced, covering his neck with his hand in embarrassment. 

“-and they gave me a D. A D! Can you believe it? I had the most detailed paper out of everyone in class- it was ten pages long- and I get a D because I couldn’t ‘cite my sources’!” Prompto air-quoted with venom in his voice. He dropped his arms heavily to the side. “I tried to explain to the professor that all of my findings were from real world research; that I actually went into the field and observed these things for myself, and he said I missed the point of the assignment! Are you kidding me?” Prompto threw himself forward, sitting cross legged and facing Noctis. “All of the sources of the lifecycle I found in the archive hypothesized that you shed like a snake once every blue moon- like come on! Where is your proof of that? That doesn’t happen!”

Noctis looked at his tail. He wiggled it from side to side, as if to check to see if a scale would fall loose. “Yeah, not that I know of.”

Prompto groaned and threw himself back again, covering his face with his hands. “I just need to get through this so I can head my own research. I just need to get through this…”

Noctis felt bad for his friend. He had started college two years ago with passion and hope, but this single class was tearing him down again and again. Humans really knew nothing about the Merfolk, and they rejected the actual knowledge that Prompto accumulated over the past ten years. To top it all off, Prompto claimed that he needed to do well in this class, lest he lose the opportunity to work in the field once his studies were over.

“What about your advisor?” Noctis held a hopeful smile. “Shouldn’t he have your back?”

The groan from Prompto’s lips suggested otherwise. “Ignis doubts that I could figure all this out by just observing, so he thinks I’m making it up!” Prompto rubbed his face more and sighed. “I mean, he’s right, but I can’t tell him that I’ve been having conversations with a merman for ten years.”

Noctis looked at the water in front of him. His reflection looked back at him with the same worry that he held in his heart. He swallowed, mentally preparing himself before he spoke. “But if he believed you, then your professors would listen to you, right?”

Prompto grumbled to himself. “Yeah, they really like Ignis. He’s all about citing his sources and taking crazy notes out in the field.” There was sarcasm laced in his voice. He glared at the sky, eyes empty, hopelessness.

Noctis mulled it over in his mind. It was just one other person. One more person knowing of his existence, and then all of his best friend’s worries would disappear. Perhaps they would be a little bit closer to that reunited world he and Prompto dreamed about. 

Noctis worked up the courage, nodding at his determined reflection. “Okay.” 

Prompto made an unenthusiastic “Huh?” 

Noctis grinned at his human friend, a hint of amusement behind his eyes. “Tell Ignis about me.”

“What?” Prompto raised himself on his arms, staring at Noctis incredulously. “You’re not serious.”

Noctis held his head high. “I am. What you write is completely correct, and it’s not fair that they won’t listen to you. If knowing about me can help others believe you, then I’m okay with you telling him about me.”

“Dude…” There was so much appreciation in Prompto’s voice. He smiled graciously at Noctis before shaking his head. “I appreciate it man, but he wouldn’t believe me even if I told him,”

Noctis’ tail twitched as the moment came for him to offer a self-indulgent idea. “Why not take a picture of me?”

Prompto’s eyes lit up. “Really? Really, really?” 

The blonde had never asked, but Noctis had always assumed that he wanted to photograph him. It was probably the matter of secrecy that stopped him from asking, but deep down Noctis always wanted to try it. 

Noctis knew of his reflection, of course, but the pictures Prompto took were always so magical, so Noctis was eager to give it a shot.

The merman nodded. “Yeah, just… don’t use my real name, okay?”

Prompto nodded, saying nothing in protest. He gathered himself and his camera and trudged his bare feet into the water, unrolled-up jeans be damned. “The lighting is just perfect,” he said as he angled himself in front of Noctis. 

The merman blushed and fidgeted on his rock. “Should I move?”

Prompto raised his camera to his eye with a wry smile. “No, stay right there! Put your head in your hand,” Noctis did as instructed, resting his jaw on the palm of his hand, looking up past his bangs towards Prompto. He heard a clicking sound, and knew it as the tell-tale sign that Prompto had gotten his shot. “Perfect!” 

Noctis smirked, his tail arching playfully. “Is that so?” 

Prompto gasped and his finger moved as quick as lightly, clicking five times in a second. 

“Woah-ho-ho!” Prompto lowered the camera and made his way to Noctis. “Check this out, Noct!” Prompto showed him a screen on the back of the camera. 

Noctis blinked in surprise. “That’s me?” 

The overlooking angle, the late afternoon lighting, the self-satisfied expression on his face, and the sparkles of water droplets that fell from the arch of his tail- Noctis just couldn’t believe that it was him in this picture. 

Prompto grinned mischievously. “I know, I’m good.”

Noctis rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. As long as it gets the message across.”

“I have no doubt,” Prompto waddled back to dry land. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking his unread messages. “I’ll show it to him on Monday… Oh, sweet! Free pizza in the student center tonight! I am there!”

“Bring me back some!” Noctis called, the desire in his eyes calling for the delectable human food.

Prompto laughed as he began to gather his stuff. “If you think I’m sharing any of my free food, you got another thing coming.”

“Six, all the thanks I get for letting you take a picture of me.” Noctis pouted, giving a half-hearted glare towards his bipedal friend.

Prompto snorted out a laughed. He smiled warmly to Noctis as he adjusted the strap over his shoulder. “Thanks, Noct. I mean it.”

Noctis turned around on his rock, resting his arms behind his head. “Don’t even mention it, Prompto.”

Noctis heard Prompto give another goodbye before shuffling away in the sand. The merman looked up at the sky, waiting for the stars to come out with only the sounds of waves to accompany him.

/0\

Prompto took a deep breath, shaking the nerves out of his body. He looked down the hall to the right, and then to the left. The coast was clear; nobody was around who could overhear them. Prompto cracked his neck before knocking on his mentor’s door. 

“Come in,” was the muffled answer that the student heard. Prompto nodded to himself before gripping the door handle and letting himself in. 

Ignis’ office was a small, cramped space, mostly because of the large corner desk they somehow managed to cram into the room. Books lined the back wall, floor to ceiling, and an old pull-down map of the continent with markings of the underwater currents was hung over the right wall of the room. 

Ignis sat in his desk chair, legs propped up on his desk, with a book in his hand and a pencil behind his ear. He addressed the student without looking up from his book. “What can I do for you, Prompto?”

Prompto jumped slightly, his eyes wide. “How did you know it was me?”

“Simple,” Ignis closed the book with one hand and looked up to Prompto with a hard stare. “I received an email from Dr. Delairous stating that you turned in another report with questionable facts.”

“They’re not questionable!” Prompto frowned, crossing his arms defiantly. “And it’s not like you’ve peer-reviewed it; nobody’s disproved my findings.”

“True as they may be, it’s hard to discern when we don’t know where you came across these findings.” Frustration was rising in Ignis’ voice. He gave the student a hard stare.

Ignis liked Prompto, he really did. The kid was so eager to learn, and yet so quick to disagree with what the scientific community had collectively agreed to be correct. Ignis liked that fire in his pupil, but he was making it harder on himself when he was in a class that was meant to brush him up on what has already been discovered.

“Actually, that’s what I’m here to talk to you about.” 

Ignis raised a curious eyebrow at his pupil, but his stare remained stone cold. 

Prompto gulped as he adjusted the strap of his bag. “I’ve… We’ve decided that it would be a good idea to tell you about it- to tell you where I got all this information.”

Ignis sighed. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “And who, might I ask, are you referring to?”

“My friend, Noctgar,” Prompto felt silly using an alias, but Noctis had insisted. Prompto gulped at the suspicion in Ignis’ eyes. Yeah, Noctgar didn’t really sound like a real name, but Noctis wasn’t a common name either, so he brushed off the uneasy feeling and continued. “He’s where I get all of my information from.”

“And what makes your friend more of an expert in the field of merbiology than the professors of our university?” Ignis tapped his finger against his arm, his patience thinning at his student’s rambling.

“He’s a merman.”

Ignis was sure he hadn’t heard him correctly. He narrowed his eyes at Prompto. “Excuse me?”

Prompto saw the fire of anger welling up in his advisor’s eyes and panickily reached inside his shoulder bag. “I know how this sounds! Crazy, right? Well, it is pretty crazy. About ten years ago I met him on the beach and we’ve been friends ever since. I see him, like, almost every weekend, and he tells me about his people and I tell him about the surface world- but it’s totally the truth and I have a picture to prove it!” 

Ignis uncrossed his arms and stood up. He was intrigued, although highly skeptical. He practically towered over his pupil. 

Prompto felt his advisor’s eyes boring into the top of his head as he searched his envelope of newly-developed pictures for the one he took of his friend. “Ah-hah! Here!”

Ignis took the photo in his hand, giving Prompto one last skeptical look before looking at the photo. 

A burning sunset shone its light upon a young man. Black hair framed bright blue eyes and drew the eye down to the soft smirk upon his lips. The ears that peaked out from his hair pointed and fanned out, like small fins upon his head. The tail, Ignis noticed, was an unusual color for a merman. Black wasn’t a color seen among the species, but it did pleasingly contrast his pale skin. The tail arched back, playfully splashing water into the air; it was the most divine creature he had ever seen.

And that was suspicious. 

Ignis gave an exasperated sigh. “Prompto, did you really think that this would convince me?”

“Wha-?” Prompto was taken aback, disbelief apparent on his face. “What do you mean? He’s obviously a merman!”

“I’m sure you know plenty of models from your time in the photography college who would be willing to pose for you,” Ignis handed back the photo to the flabbergasted Prompto, who took it and stared at the picture in disbelief. “The costume makeup is fantastic, but it’s obvious that he’s a professional. His head is dry, his hair is styled, and you can see the makeup on his eyes.  
Eyeliner certainly looks fantastic on him, but makeup is a luxury I seriously doubt the merpeople have mastered. You should put this must effort into studying-“

“You think Noct’s a model?” Prompto interrupted. His gaze quickly shifted between his mentor and to picture to see that, huh, Noctis really is wearing some kind of eyeliner. It was so well applied that Prompto hadn’t even noticed.

Ignis raised an eyebrow at his pupil. “Yes, I do. That has to be one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen, and his persona behind the camera is quite flawless-“

Prompto broke out into a full grin. “No way!” Ignis blinked as Prompto laughed and put away his photo. “This is awesome! Well, I mean, it totally sucks that you don’t believe me, but I cannot wait to tell Noct about this!”

Ignis frowned in disappointment. “Prompto, this is serious.” 

The smile faltered on Prompto’s face.

“You need to take your studies more seriously. I know you have big aspirations, and I would love to have you on my research team someday.” 

Prompto grew a shy smile, gripping the strap of his bag as he looked up to Ignis bashfully. 

Ignis sighed. “I don’t understand why you feel you have to prove everyone wrong. Your job right now is to learn that which has already been discovered. Leave the new discoveries to when you’re published,” Ignis moved to open the door for Prompto. “Until then, at least try to read your predecessor’s notes?”

Prompto took a deep breath. “Yeah… you’re right. Don’t want to give Dr. Delirious credit for any of my discoveries, anyway. Thanks, Ignis.” 

Ignis shook his head as Prompto walked through the door. 

The blond caught the door frame and turned back once more to look at his mentor. “Oh, I’m not lying by the way. Noct is real and he is going to freak when I tell him what you said!”

Ignis looked at his now empty doorway with confusion. Of course the man was real; Ignis had only believed that he wasn’t a merman. He did feel his cheeks begin to warm at the thought of Prompto telling the attractive model what he said, but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he sat back down in his chair, turning his attention to the pull-down map to continue with his research.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have lots of fun to look forward to!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @ Rikamae


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto gets to meet another merman, and Ignis makes Prompto an offer he can't refuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long! Enjoy!

Prompto parked his car in the usual spot on the late Sunday morning, leaving the windows down so his car would not overheat. He adjusted the strap of his bag as he made his way across the sandy beach towards the rocky alcove where he typically met his aquatic friend.

Approaching the boundary, Prompto peeked from behind the large rock that separated the tourist side of the beach to the vacant side. Noctis was sunbathing on his usual rock, one that was perfectly angled to be hidden from the tourists of Galdin Quay who played in the waves. It peaked above the water at an area that would usually be about waist deep, with a trail of smaller rocks which one could use to hop to Noctis’ spot.

Prompto took off his sandals and skipped along the small rock path to sneak behind Noctis without getting himself soaked. “Hiya!”

Noctis jumped at Prompto’s loud greeting, glaring at the blond who perched himself at the top of the rock. “And where have you been?” He flicked his tail to give Prompto a light splash, and the boy laughed as he tried to block the water with his hands.

“Sorry, I got to hang out with _Aranea_ yesterday,” Prompto wiggled his eyebrows. He had waited all week to tell Noctis what Ignis had said, but now he was talking about Aranea, and his mind was filled with far away fantasies. Prompto gave a goofy grin to his merfriend. “You remember me telling you about her?”

Noctis raised an eyebrow curiously. “I thought you were into a girl named Cindy?”

“Oh, _Cindy_ ,” Prompto sighed dreamily. There were now two beautiful girls on his mind. “Oh yeah, I really dig her. But I only get to see her when my car breaks down. Aranea goes to LU, and she’s just so cool and mature and mysterious …” Prompto trailed off, looking more and more like a lovestruck puppy as he stared at the cloudless sky.

Noctis rolled his eyes. “You must not know her that well if she’s so _mysterious_.”

Prompto shook his head as he crawled next to Noctis. “No man, she’s awesome. She knows what she wants and she does it, just like that! I just can’t figure out her motivations,” Prompto sat next to Noctis, dipping his feet into the cool ocean water. “Why invite me to a frat party? Why join my team for beer pong? Why hang out with me all night? What is she up to?” The look on his face became more incredulous with every question he asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe she _likes_ you,” Noctis jabbed his elbow into Prompto’s side. He couldn’t believe how dense Prompto was sometimes. Did this guy really not understand how attractive he was?

Prompto laughed as he shook his head.  “No way, dude! She’s _way_ out of my league. I’m just happy to be along for the ride.”

“Right…” Noctis chuckled, not at all believing in his human friend. He dragged his tail back and forth in the water, sheepishly looking at Prompto from the corner of his eye. “So… Did you show your mentor?”

“Oh, yeah!” Prompto cried. He turned to Noctis and leaned close to the merman’s face.

Noctis flinched as Prompto got close. The merman’s face flushed, and he frowned as he tried to push Prompto away. “What are you-?”

“You _are_ wearing eyeliner!” Prompto exclaimed. Noctis blinked in surprise as Prompto chuckled. “I can’t believe I never noticed that! What is makeup even made of underwater?”

Noctis huffed, turning away from Prompto stubbornly. “I don’t know! Probably… tar? Do you know what’s in your make-up?”

The blond laughed. “Touché!”

Noctis refused to look at Prompto directly, his mind too clouded by their sudden and unnecessary closeness, but he did glare at Prompto from the corner of his eye with suspicion. “What does my makeup have to do with anything?”

A grin stretched across Prompto’s face, but before he could explain his spicy news, a stirring in the water caused Noctis to snap his head to the water with widened, fearful eyes.

Emerged from the water came a mountain of a man. His long hair was slicked back and resting upon his shoulders. A scar ran down his left eye, and a spectacular tattoo was draped upon his shoulders, down his arms, and across his back. The man ran his hand through his hair, tilting his neck and revealing the dark green scales that framed his gills. He cocked a toothy grin at the two young men, an air of confidence radiating off his presence.

Prompto was speechless; this was the first time he had ever seen another merman. How could he reveal himself so casually, as if there was no tangible fear between the humans and Merfolk that has spanned generations?

Not only that, but the man was so... attractive? Prompto seriously did not know how to handle the heat that swelled in his cheeks as the man raised his thick arms to pull his hair out of his face, a chuckle escaping his lips.

“ _So, this is the human you spend all your free time with_?” Gladiolus smirked. “ _I must say, your highness, I can see why_.”

Noctis began to panic. “ _What? I don’t-_ _What are you doing here?_ ”

Prompto seemed to fall into a trance when he heard the Mertongue. He hadn’t heard Noctis speak it so casually; only the carefully enunciation of sounds from when Noctis had attempted to teach him some words, but it sounded completely different when spoken fluently.

Gladio shrugged. “ _What can I say? The weekend is my free time, too. It’s boring waiting for you down by the reef.”_ the large merman swam forward, his deep green tail flicking out of the water as he did so. _“And I wanted to get a good look at this human you always talk about.”_

“ _He doesn’t know about you!”_ Noctis shrieked, holding his arm in front of the blond. “ _You’re going to blow my cover_!”

Gladio rolled his eyes. “ _Relax, princess, I’m no idiot_.” He gave a wide grin. “ _I haven’t blabbed about this to your old man, have I_?”

Noctis reluctantly lowered his arm. It was true, Gladiolus never did reveal his prince’s secret. He merely kept watch, like any good Shield would do, as his prince swam to the surface to meet with his friend.

“Besides, why should you have all the fun?” Gladio’s true colors sprang forth, and Noctis could only watch in object horror as his Shield turned to great Prompto.

Prompto snapped out of his trance once he realized the burly merman was swimming towards him. The blond hastily closed his fist and placed it over his heart in greeting, causing Gladio to raise an eyebrow in amusement.

“ _Gladio_ -” Gladio turned to his prince, who looked slightly to his side to avoid the Shield’s gaze. “ _Remember… He doesn’t know I’m a prince_.”

The Shield nodded. Gladio eagerly returned the greeting to Prompto and bowed his head. “I am Gladiolus Amicitia,” the Shield lifted his head, a coy grin playing on his lips. “But a friend of Noctis can call me Gladio.”

Prompto grinned from ear to ear. “My name is Prompto Argentum, it’s very nice to meet you!” The excitement was clearly present in Prompto’s squeaky voice. It was cute. The human cleared his throat in embarrassment. “I’m glad you can speak Common.”

“Yeah, it does come with my line of work.” Gladio smirked in pride.

“Oh, really?” Prompto’s eyes lit up in curiosity. “What do you do?”

Gladio paused, unsure of how to answer. Noctis interjected for him. “Remember how I said most people wanted to join the royal guard?” Prompto nodded at Noctis’ words. The merman grinned as he jabbed his thumb towards the larger merman. “Gladio is one of the lucky ones who did.”

Prompto nearly jumped off of the rock. “No way! That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, well-“ Gladio didn’t expect the genuine excitement he was receiving from the blond. He continued to stammer until Prompto spoke again.

“How do you and Noctis know each other?” Prompto asked innocently, his hands around his ankles as he bounced in his crossed-leg position.

Gladio let out a long “Uh…” that made Noctis roll his eyes.

“Gladio is my best friend under the sea. We’ve known each other for ages.”

Gladio grinned at his prince, a sense of pride washing over him to know that he was thought of so fondly.

Prompto was more than satisfied with that answer. “Then you should come hang out with us more often, Gladio! I would love to get to know you more!”

Prompto’s shining eyes made Gladio swallow. “Yeah?”

Prompto nodded excitedly. “If Noctis says you’re cool, then you must really be awesome!”

Gladio was in a haze. He missed most of the stuff Prompto said next, something about the weekends and studying and school, so he simply nodded in response. The human broke out another grin as he began laughing, and Gladio became distracted by the crinkling of his nose and the freckles on his face. This human, this strange, bubbly, happy human made something tighten in this merman’s chest.

“So, you’ll come visit more, right?” Prompto reached up to tuck a lock of blond hair behind his ear.

Gladio felt his face heat up. “Yeah, sure… but I won’t overstay my welcome!” Gladio added, looking to Noctis with a half-grin. “This is your thing, right, princess?”

Noctis’ eyes grew wide.

Gladio froze solid.

He didn’t mean to say that.

“Hah, princess!” Prompto nudged Noctis with his elbow. “You really are high maintenance, aren’t you?”

A light chuckle escaped Noctis’ mouth as he pushed back against his friend. “Shut up!”

The Shield felt it best to take his leave, being overwhelmed by his new human friend’s charm, as well as his little slip up.  He agreed to meeting on the beach again in the future, and he overlooked Noctis’ hitched eyebrow and knowing smirk as he waved goodbye and swam back under water.

Noctis gave a heavy sigh. Crisis averted.

Prompto was still bouncing in his spot. “I can’t believe I met another merman!” He squealed. Noctis shot Prompto a smug smirk, to which the blonde blinked curiously. “What?”

“Oh nothing,” Noctus mused. “Just that your exchange lacked… heterosexuality.”

Prompto’s smiled faltered and his ears turned red. “What? We just-? We were just talking! I didn’t- I like girls!”

Noctis chuckled, kicking his tail out of the water to lightly splash his friend. “The way you gawked at his muscles says otherwise.”

“The dude was ripped!” Prompto retorted, although it did nothing to convince Noctis otherwise. Prompto began to pout. “I was staring because he’s a merman, nothing else.”

“Hey man, nothing wrong with being bisexual.  You know how it is; the gays attract more gays.”

Noctis intended to tease, but his words seem to resonate within Prompto. His friend already knew that part about Noctis for some years now, but perhaps he never gave it much thought on his own.

Noctis decided to let his friend figure that out in his own time, and slipped forward to float in the water as he rested his arms on the edge of the rock. “So… about your advisor?”

Prompto snapped back to reality. “Oh. My. Gods. You are never gonna believe what Ignis said!”

Noctis grinned. “What? Did he believe you?”

“Not at all!” Prompto laughed at the curious look on Noctis’ face. “He said you were too beautiful and that you obviously had to be a model!”

“Huh?” Noctis cried as the blood rushed to his ears.

Prompto gave a satisfied chuckle, leaning forward as he tapped on his own temple. “He liked your eyeliner, too.”

Noctis touched the corner of his eye. “He- wha-? You’re lying-”

Roaring laughter escaped Prompto’s mouth as his friend continued to burn red. “He really said that, dude! He was intent on it!” Prompto continued to tease as Noctis turned away and hid the lower half of his face underwater. Prompto sighed as he looked at the sky. “Man, I wish someone called me the most beautiful man they’ve ever seen~”

Noctis huffed and turned back to Prompto with a pout. “That’s not fair!” He muttered, crossing his arms childishly. “He… he can’t just say stuff like that! I don’t even know what he looks like!”

A wicked grin grew on Prompto’s face as he thought of an even wickeder idea. “Do you want a picture?”

Noctis’ head snapped towards Prompto. “You have one?”

“No,” Prompto chuckled at the sour expression of Noctis’ face. “But I can get one for you.”

Noctis was silent. The sneaky bastard caught him. He had gotten him to show interest, and now he was going to have to ask for a photo. It felt childish and stupid, perhaps even creepy, but Noctis would have to admit it; he really wanted a picture of this would-be admirer. 

Prompto wiggled his eyebrows at his friend, who turned away and spoke in a soft mutter. “I mean, it’s not like I really care or anything. It’s only fair that I get to see the guy who complemented me, so…”

“You can count on me, buddy!” Prompto jumped to his feet in newfound purpose.

Noctis huffed a “Whatever,” before he sank back in the water, causing Prompto to skip off to his car with an unexplainable glee.

/0\

_Calm down._

_Just ask him for one picture._

_What’s so hard about that?_

_It’ll be done in, like, two minutes!_

Prompto’s fingers nervously worked the buttons and dials on his camera. He finally had the free time to go see his advisor, but the more time passed, the more Prompto got cold feet. Perhaps this was a big deal; asking one’s superior for a picture was not something a student typically did, right?

Nevertheless, down the professor’s corridor he went, waving politely at the staff that he recognized from the department. They paid him no mind: he always had his camera with him, so nothing was out of the ordinary. The blond made it to Ignis’ small office without any second thoughts. He took a deep breath before peeking into the doorway.

If Prompto didn’t know any better, he would have sworn that Ignis was typing a million words per minute. Prompto gulped. Ignis looked really busy, his eyes darting across the screen from behind shining glasses. The student pondered if asking Ignis while he was in this state would be good for his own safety.

It was not until Ignis turned on his desk lamp that Prompto saw it. A warm light filled the room as Ignis leaned back in his chair with a particularly thick book. He crossed his legs, leisurely flipping through the pages as he hummed a small tune. He looked as comfortable as he did determined, a grin playing across his face as if he found the contents amusing.

Prompto raised his camera to his eye.

_Snap!_

The sound made Ignis’ eye twitch, but it was the only thing that told Prompto that he had heard the sound at all. Prompto Adjusted the zoom.

_Snap! Snap!_

Ignis looked puzzled, but did not lift his eyes from his book. Prompto peeked at his camera screen with a sneaky grin before returning the camera to his eye.

“ _Ignis_ …”

He looked up at the sound of his name.

_Snap!_

“That was you?” Ignis slammed his book shut as he glared up to his pupil. “What do you think you’re doing, Prompto?”

“I’m sorry! Do you wanna see the picture?” Prompto tried with a wry smile. The blond frowned when Ignis’ features remained hard.

Ignis crossed his arms. “I believe the correct order would be to ask for consent first, am I wrong?”

Prompto chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, I’ve never been good about that. Sometimes it’s just so perfect, you know?”

“Nonetheless,” Ignis stood, closing the distance between him and his pupil. “You should delete those photos at once.”

“What? No!” Prompto turned, guarding his camera from his mentor’s grasp. “I need it to show Noct- EEP!”

Prompto yelped. He blinked in surprised, staring into his empty hands before looking up to see Ignis looking through his camera.

“How many did you take?” Ignis frowned as he skimmed through the pictures. “Ah, here we go.”

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Prompto paled once he heard the familiar sound of pictures being deleted. “Hey! Stop that!” The blond reached out for his camera, but Ignis merely held the device above his head. Prompto tried to grip onto Ignis’ shoulder, a growl escaping his lips. “Hands off the merchandise!”

“May this be a lesson to you, young Prompto,” Ignis held a satisfied grin as Prompto crossed his arms in a pout. Ignis looked back at the digital screen. “You mustn’t be a voyeur.”

“I was gonna ask!” Prompto protested. “But the shot was so good!”

Prompto waited for Ignis to scold him more, but was met with silence. The younger man looked up to his advisor, and witnessed the intrigued look that the elder man held.

Ignis caught Prompto staring in the corner of his eye. He cleared his throat, before pressing the home button and returning the camera. “What was this about? You said something about your friend?”

Prompto grinned as he looped his camera strap back around his neck. “Yeah! Noct thought it was only fair to see what the guy who called him handsome looked like!”

“Your model friend?” Ignis turned away from his pupil, straightening the books on his desk. “I hardly see the point. He’s likely told that all the time.”

Prompto shrugged. “He seemed pretty shocked to me,” the blond snorted. “You should have seen his tail twitching!”

A sigh emanated from Ignis. “You’re still trying to convince me you know a merman; I presume?”

“Dude, he really is a merman! Gills and everything!”

“Preposterous.”

“ _Really_ ,” Prompto emphasized. “What can I do for you to believe me?”

“There isn’t much you can do to prove the impossible to me,” Ignis took the opportunity to sit back in his chair, crossing his legs and arms as he leaned back. “Unless I can see him with my own eyes, I simple can’t believe you.”

 “With your own eyes?” Prompto bit his lip. His gut tightened as Ignis nodded.

“If you take me to him, allow me to inspect him for myself, then perhaps I will believe you.”

“I…” Prompto looked away, worry etched into his face. “I can’t.”

Ignis raised an eyebrow. “And why not?”

The blond fiddled with his camera again, worrying about the lens as he tried to avoid Ignis’ eyes. “I told him I wouldn’t tell anyone about him… He only agreed to let me tell you so I could be taken seriously around here.” Prompto dropped his hands to his sides and clenched his fists. “I’m not stupid. I’m not making things up for attention. I really know what I’m talking about, and it’s thanks to Noctis.”

Ignis studied his pupil. Never before had he ever seen a student take a fantasy so far. It was because of this, because of Prompto’s determination and fighting spirit, that Ignis wanted to believe him. How fantastic would it be, Ignis thought, to know the Merfolk so personally?

But this was not a fantasy. This was the real world, and Ignis could not trust Prompto on his word alone.

Ignis sighed, running his hand over his face. “I understand your frustration, but put yourself in my shoes. I cannot, in good faith, ask anyone for a baseless promise alone.”

The room was silent. Prompto clenched his jaw. He refused to meet Ignis’ sturdy gaze. “Why can’t you just… trust me?”

Ignis frowned. “I want to trust you.” Silence lingered for a moment in the dank office space. Ignis propped his arm on his desk, leaning his cheek against his fist with a soft smile. “If you introduce me to your friend, and allow me to write a report about the anonymous merman you’ve been meeting, I will personally bring forth a motion to the dean to let you bypass your studies in favor of actual research.”

“Huh?” Prompto’s jaw nearly hit the floor. He stared at his mentor incredulously. “You can do that?”

Ignis chuckled at Prompto’s shock. “No, it’s likely that I cannot. But, if it’s true that you have been in communication with a merman, it will progress our studies significantly,” Ignis grinned. “I am well liked by the department, and I could likely help you get published as an undergrad. Perhaps I can put in a good word for you. Grad school is likely in your future, after all.”

Prompto suppressed a squeal. “Are you for real, Iggy?”

Ignis brushed his hand through his spiked-up hair with a tired nod.

“All right!” Prompto Cheered. He held his camera up. “But can I take a picture? I’m sure it’ll help me come back with a yes.”

“You already have one.” Ignis said plainly as he waved his hand at his pupil.

Prompto gave a questionable look before looking at his camera feed. A wide grin stretched across his face as he saw an image of Ignis looking back at him. “Thanks, Iggy!” Prompto cheered. The excitement took hold of him, and with a quick goodbye he raced back to his dorm to develop the picture.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto asks Noctis if he would be willing to meet with Ignis...
> 
> And then they share a very strange encounter.

“Hey, Gladio, how do tattoos work underwater?”

The white foam of the waves brushed against the merman’s shoulders while he lifted his head from the salty water. Gladio ran his hand over his head, pulling the long strands of hair out of his eyes as he gave Prompto a curious glance. “What do you mean?”

Prompto hummed to himself, looking off into the distance as he thought. He absentmindedly wiggled his feet in the waves that brushed against the shore. He leaned back on his hands, pursing his lips as he looked at the clouds in the sky. “I mean… how do you do… like, that?” The student motioned towards the tattooed sleeves of the merman in front of him. Upon seeing Gladio’s confused expression, he continued. “What I mean is… What's the process?”

Gladio looked down at his arm before looking back to Prompto with mild amusement in his eyes. “Sea urchins.”

Prompto’s eyes grew wide. “Sea urchins?”

Noctis laughed from beside the human. His arms were crossed underneath his chin as he lay to feel the warm sun on his back. His lower half rest among the waves, keeping him cool and hydrated while he naps his day away in the warm sand. It was only the entertaining back and forth of his two best friends that kept him aware of the waking world. The secret prince peeked his eye open to watch their interaction.

Gladiolus laughed. “Yeah, certain sea urchins produce a black venom. If we use the needles correctly, we can inject it under our skin, just under the first layer. It won’t be absorbed by our immune system, so it’s permanent art.” The larger merman flexed his arms, showing off the way that his tattoos curved around his muscles.

Prompto nodded to himself. “Okay, cool, I’m following. But what about recovery? It can take weeks for a tattoo to heal, how do you keep it clean?”

“Weeks?” Gladio gave an abrupt laugh. “This tat' healed in a few days!”

Prompto’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

The larger merman nodded. “Seriously.” He cracked an amused smirk. “Humans are so squishy.”

“Are not!” Prompto defended his kind, not able to hide the pout on his lips.

Noctis chuckled, raising his head and resting his chin on the palm of his hand. “If I remember right, I’m pretty sure we heal faster than humans.”

“Really?” Prompto blinked at the dark-haired boy.

“Yeah, our bodies heal faster, our skin is thicker…” Noctis hummed to himself, flicking his tail from side to side. “You know how you get all… wrinkly underwater?” Noctis looked over to see his friend nodding. “Your skin gets sensitive when it’s in the water for too long. Our bodies have adapted. Our skin has to withstand spending a lifetime underwater, and it needs to keep the sun from drying us out. If we get hurt, we lose that layer of protection, so we got to heal faster to keep ourselves safe.”

Prompto looked mystified. Completely enthralled in Noctis’ words, the blond listened intently, set on memorizing every word in his heart. This was what he loved the most, those times when he could listen to his friend talk for ages. There was a passion in his eyes that cried that he wanted more.

Gladiolus crossed his arms, a devilish grin upon his face. “So compared to us, you’re squishy.”

“Hey!” Prompto snapped, his whistful look fading from reality. He glared at Gladio before kicking water at the merman, who laughed as he retaliated with the same.

Noctis shook his head and rolled his eyes as if he didn’t have a smile on his face. “Tell him more about your tattoo, Gladio.”

The splashing stopped and Prompto broke out into a grin. “Yeah!”

Gladio scratched the back of his head. “Well…” The merman turned, allowing Prompto a full view of the tattoo. The merman could feel the younger man’s eyes on him, and tried to ignore the warm feeling crawling into his cheeks. “It’s a bird of prey. It’s really a family tradition… The men in my family get it after joining the royal guard.”

_After becoming a shield_ , Noctis failed to speak aloud. The younger merman watched attentively as Gladio turned back to Prompto.

Prompto tilted his head. “All the men in your family joined the royal guard?”

Gladio shrugged. “Not all of them. But those who rise to the task do.” Gladio placed his hand over the face of the bird, a small smile upon his face. “This is a symbol of my duty to the crown. It shows my loyalty, my conviction, and my perseverance.” His hand closed into a fist above his heart and broke into an all-out grin. “No matter what, I’ve got the crown’s back!”

“That’s so cool!” Prompto cried, unable to hide the admiration in his eyes.

Gladio nearly staggered at the sight, but with a grin he flexed his arms again, turning around again so Prompto could see the movement and curving of his tattoo.

Prompto’s eyes were full of awe. “Woah…”

Noctis smirked. The poor blond looked like a complete mess, his mouth ajar and his eyes mystified. It was such an over-the-top reaction, and Prompto took the opportunity to ogle in complete stride.

“Don’t drool…” Noctis whispered, although his friend made no indication to show that he was heard. Noctis rolled his eyes as he flicked his tail, splashing Prompto across the face.

“Gah!” Prompto cried. “What was that for?” he pouted as he wiped the water off of his face.

“Did you hear me?” Noctis asked with a smirk.

“No…” Prompto looked over his friend suspiciously.

Noctis shook his head with an amused sigh. “I asked how humans got tattoos.” Noctis lied, propping his cheek on his hand as he watched Prompto regain his composure.

“Well…” Prompto began. “It’s pretty much the same, I guess. We just use ink and needle-guns.”

“A needle-what?” Gladio asked.

Prompto blinked in shock. “Oh gods, you don’t know what guns are…” Prompto scratched his cheek. “A needle-gun isn’t really a gun, though. It’s just a fast way to tattoo -I’ll show you guys one next week if I can get a picture of one- but a real gun is a weapon. Basically, it uses explosives to send a projectile at crazy speeds to pierce through your enemy. It’s pretty cool,” Prompto paused to look at the stunned expressions on the merman’s faces before quickly adding on, “It’s not like, uh, we just go around shooting people all the time. Pretty much only military has them, but the shooting range is open for anyone who wants to shoot targets! And I like paintball, which uses guns that aren’t lethal… Not necessarily, anyway.”

Prompto did not like the silence that greeted him. He nervously scratched his head, unsure of what to clarify, when Noctis finally spoke.

“Humans even have advanced weapon technology?”

Prompto tilted his head. “Y-yeah… I mean, Niflheim’s army is almost solely MT troops: robots.”

Gladio huffed. He crossed his arms, a smug smile across his lips. “It’s nothing that the royal guard can’t handle.”

“Oh yeah?” Prompto grinned. “Are Merfolk weapons powerful?”

“You bet!” Gladio held his arm out to the side. A radiant light shone from his hand, and in a flash a broadsword manifested into existence.

“Holy Shiva!” Prompto cried, a mix of awe and fear on his face.

“Nice, huh?” Gladio smirked as he leaned the blunt end of his sword against his shoulder.

“Is that… _magic_?”

Noctis wanted to crawl into the deepest trench in the sea and die. He glared at his Shield, watching in frustration as Gladio shrugged in apathy.

“Yeah, it’s a perk of being in the royal guard; we get to benefit from the king’s magic.”

“Noct!” Prompto cried as he turned to the smaller merman with his big, round eyes.

Noctis snapped to a listless gaze before Prompto could see his glare. “Hm?”

Prompto pouted. “You didn’t tell me the Merfolk had _literal_ magic!”

Noctis raised an eyebrow. “Prompto, our entire species was created using the magic gifted to the king from the gods, I didn’t think that I needed to tell you that there’s magic involved.”

It was an excuse so good that even Noctis believed it.

Prompto shifted awkwardly where he sat. “Well… Yeah, but I didn’t know the Merfolk benefit from the king’s magic!” He gave a half grin to his best friend. “I guess you use magic for lots of things.”

“Just not tattooing,” Noctis teased.

Prompto huffed, crossing his arms as he stuck out his nose. “Yeah, man, whatever.”

Noctis chuckled, swishing his tails in the waves. “I’ve always wanted a tattoo.”

“Really?” Gladio cracked a grin. “I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, well,” the younger merman scratched behind his ear as he avoided Prompto’s gaze. “It’s not like my dad would really approve of it and all…”

Gladio nodded firmly, nothing else needed to be said.

Prompto laughed. “Yeah, my parents are anal about that stuff, too,” the human added, “but I did think about getting one anyway. What would you get, Noct?”

 “Oh, that’s easy,” Noctis grinned. “I want to get-“ the secret prince paused. He stared forward, his face blank.

Prompto waved his hand in front of Noctis’ face. “Hello? Buddy?”

With a frown he knocked Prompto’s hand away. “Stop, I’m thinking.”

 “You forgot what you wanted?” Prompto asked.

Noctis shook his head. “No, I just can’t think of the word in Common.”

A laughed burst out of Prompto’s mouth. “Seriously? Are you pulling my leg?”

 “Pulling your…? No! It’s the things!” Noctis pointed up at the sky and said a word in Mertongue.

Gladio snapped his fingers. “I know what you mean! That’s a pretty complicated tat’.”

“What? The clouds?” Prompto looked up, squinting at the bright sky. “The birds?”

“No, the things,” Noctis exasperated as he pointed upwards again. “They come out at night!”

Prompto blinked. “The stars?”

“Yes! That’s it! Stars!” Noctis cheered. He splashed his tail in the water in elation, causing water to spay into Prompto’s face.

Prompto laughed, splashing water back at Noctis. “I swear I’ve heard you say stars before.”

“Shut up, Common is a confusing language.” Noctis retorted.

“You can barely speak Mertongue, Princess.” Gladio added.

“Shut up, Meathead!”

Prompto laughed as the mermen continued throwing insults at each other, eventually resulting in them wrestling in the water. The human was glad that the mermen felt comfortable enough to be as they were around him, to show that his presence wouldn’t make them act any differently than they likely already did. As his laughter settled down, he tilted his head. “How would stars be complicated to tattoo?”

Gladio pushed the seething prince off of him, watching with a grin as Noctis sulked back to shore. He held his grin as he turned to the blond. “It would take a lot of venom to capture the bright lights against the dark sky. They would probably black out his entire back to do it.”

“Like a galaxy shot?” Prompto pulled his finger to his lips, looking off into the distance as he imagined images much like those that telescopes could capture. His mind conjured images of colorful stardust and far away planets, whether they were swirling or flat or just a spot in the vast darkness of space. All of it beautiful, and likely something that Noctis would love to see. For a moment he thought to ask what the Merfolk thought of astronomy, but another thought quickly crossed his mind. “Why don’t you just get a single star?”

Noctis huffed. “How? It would just look like a splotch or a circle.” Noctis crinkled his nose, displeased by the thought of it.

Prompto chuckled. “Stop thinking so realistically. Get a star  _symbol_.”

Noctis blinked. “Like… what they put on maps?”

Prompto grinned. “Exactly!” he drew the commonly understood symbol in the sand. A small, five-pointed star.

Noctis’ eyebrows furrowed. “That’s not a star,” the merman ran his finger through the sand, drawing first a cross, and then an X over it. “That’s the symbol we use, and it’s not very…”

“Attractive.” Gladio finished.

Noctis nodded, his eyes drifting to the star that Prompto drew.

The blond grinned. “We’ve used that symbol, too. There are a lot of ways to draw stars,” Prompto began filling the space between himself and the merman with as many stars as he could think of. He even drew a shooting star, which certainly caught Noctis’ attention. Prompto looked upon his work with pride. “I heard sailor’s like to get this kind of tattoo… But I personally like the original,” Prompto pointed at the first star that he drew. “This was actually the one I thought about getting behind my parents back after I graduated high school. I wanted it behind my ear,” Prompto pointed his finger behind his right ear to show the two mermen. Then he smiled sheepishly. “I chickened out at the last second, though.”

“Chickened?” Gladio muttered under his breath.

“I got cold feet,” Prompto blurted before shaking his head. “I mean, I got too nervous, too scared. I backed out.”

Prompto smiled when Gladio gave an understanding nod. The blond then turned his attention to Noctis, who looked upon the drawings in the sand with awe. He slowly reached his hand behind his ear, a small, wishful smile upon his face.

Prompto slammed his hand into the sand as he leaned into Noctis’ face. “Let’s do it!”

“What! Do what?” Noctis quipped in shock. He looked upon Prompto’s eager grin in terror.

“Let’s get matching tattoos, duh!” Prompto pointed behind his ear, his eyes shining brighter than the sun’s reflection off the waves. “Our hair’s long enough to hide it now! Nobody will even know!”

Noctis reached behind his ear again. His hair did cover it well enough. If he was careful, his father would never know. His heart began to pound inside his chest. Was he really going to do this? His eyes slowly drifted to Gladio, looking for approval, or, more likely, a voice of reason. Noctis did not expect the approving grin on his Shield’s face.

“Hey man, it’s your body,” Gladio crossed his arms. “It’s your decision.”

Gladio was a man sent by the grace of the Astrals. Noctis would have broken into tears if he were to get any more emotional. The merman prince turned to the excited human with a bright smile upon his face. “Let’s do it!”

Prompto cheered and stood to face the ocean. “Friendship tattoos!” he cried towards the waves, his voice stretching across the sea so loud Noctis would have thought his father heard it. The human collapsed against the sand; his smile so wide his face likely hurt.

A rumbling chuckle escaped from Gladio. “If this is happening, I’m gonna go get my guy. He’ll keep this a secret from your old man for sure, but he’s liable to close up shop for the night soon. I’ll see you later, Prompto, princess.”

“Bye, Gladio!”

“Good riddance... Hey, Gladio,” the large merman paused to look at the smaller. “Thank you.”

Gladiolus smiled. He nodded, turning his body towards the water before sinking beneath the waves.

It was quiet with the other merman gone. They had exhausted so much energy that they decided to relax in silence for a little bit. Birds called out to each other over the boy’s heads, and Noctis hummed to himself as he listened to the sea.

The silence always made Prompto’s mind race. He really lived his best life; he lived close to the sea, got to hang out with his best friend – who was a merman!- and got to spend his time studying things that he loved. The only think that could make this any better for him would be for him to actually have the money to fund his underwater adventures: snorkeling, Scuba diving, underwater photography…

Prompto shot upright. “Photography!”

 “Huh?” Noctis shrieked, nearly falling backwards.

Prompto snatched his shoulder bag from behind him and began rummaging around. “I just remembered what I wanted to show you… ahah!” Prompto pulled out a single, shining card from his bad, much to the confusion of his friend. Prompto waved the item in the air with a devilish grin on his face. “Do you wanna see a picture of Ignis?”

Noctis’ eyes grew wide. He moved to snatch the picture from Prompto’s hands, but the blond was too quick. Noctis tried again, but Prompto nearly rolled into the water, which caused the merman to freeze. “Hey, careful!” he narrowed his eyes at the human. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Prompto sang as he edged his way closer to the water. “Do you really want to see it?”

“Just give me the damn photo,” Noctis fumed. Prompto wouldn’t wipe that stupid grin off his face. “And get away from the water with that!”

Prompto held the photo above the waves and the breath caught in Noctis’ throat.

The human chuckled. “Only if you agree to a really special request.”

Noctis groaned internally. “What could you possibly want?”

A wry smile stretched across Prompto’s face. “Meet Ignis.”

Noctis blinked. “Huh?”

The fake sinister aura that Promtpo held faded immediately. “I just need you to meet with him, show him you’re really a merman! He said he’ll write about you as an anonymous merman and give me credit for bringing you together! It’s perfect! He’ll put in a good word for me and back me up, and you can meet the guy who called you handsome.” Prompto gave a hopeful smile. “Deal?”

Noctis was near speechless. He grimaced at the thought, yet at the same time felt his heart beat excitedly in his chest. He chewed on his lip before speaking. “I don’t know… Can we trust him? Are you sure he won’t hurt me, or tell anyone about how or where we meet?”

Determination filled Prompto’s eyes. “He would never do that. On my honor.”

Noctis raised an eyebrow at Prompto, who smiled sheepishly in return. A long groan escaped Noctis’ lips and he ran his hand through his hair. “Alright, fine. You win. But let me see that picture-“

“Woohoo!” Prompto cheered, dropping the photo as he shot his fists into the sky.

“ _Fuck_!” cried the merman in his own language as he dove for the picture that fell towards the foaming waves.

It slipped between his fingers. 

It landed face down in the water.

There was a large splash...

Noctis laid with his face in the water, his body heavy and motionless. The waves washed over his head, dragging the now wet photo towards the shore. He made no attempt to move.

Until he felt a tap on his shoulder. Noctis slowly moved to glare up at the human, his eyes full of hurt and betrayal.

The glare faded as soon as his eyes focused.

Prompto held up the photo, still firm and study, with small droplets of water running down it’s face. “It’s waterproof,” Prompto assured him with an apologetic smile on his face. He held the photo out for Noctis. “So you can treasure it always.”

The merman was so stunned that he forgot to be mad.

Noctis took the photo gingerly, pushing himself up and curling his tail so that he could sit properly. He looked to Prompto one more time before letting his eyes fall on the photograph.

It was a tall man leaning back in a chair with his legs crossed. He looked at the camera from above his glasses, his eyebrow raised in a curious way that made him look mildly interested, if not mildly annoyed. His hair was well kept, pulled up from his face, light brown and feathery on top of his head, and his jawline was strong and sharp. He wore detailed clothing, with intricate detailing and pressed seems. The top button of his shirt was undone, revealing a small chain necklace with a skull pendent resting on his collarbone. There was a warm glow upon his features; he almost seemed to glow in the light.

But it was those eyes. His eyes were bright green like gemstones glistening in the sun. Those green eyes pierced through Noctis’ chest, and for a moment he thought that his heart had stopped beating.

Noctis gulped.

Prompto knew he had done well.

With a full flush on his face Noctis looked up to Prompto, slightly panicking before going back to the picture again.

“Well?” Prompto mused as his friend continued to stare at the photo with awe.

Noctis swallowed hard again, looking up at Prompto with determined eyes. “I know where we should meet.”

/0\

The shining sea met the face of a cliff in the form of powerful waves. If one wasn’t careful, they could get caught up in all the chaos.

But Noctis was always careful.

There was no guarantee that who he was looking for would be there, but Noctis decided to try nevertheless. He swam into the opening in the cliff to find the hidden dock, complete with a black boat just waiting to be boarded. He had never seen it in use, but it was always there. Just in case.

Noctis swam up to the wooden dock, lifting himself up and sitting upon its edge. He took the opportunity to squeeze some water from his hair, flicking his tail in the air to do the same. It wasn’t long before he heard footsteps behind him, and he turned around to be greeted by a familiar face.

A smirk graced the prince’s face. “Hello, Cor.”

The man who stepped onto the dock was an older gentleman, probably in his mid-40s. He greeted the prince with a wry smile and a closed fist upon his chest. “To what do I owe the pleasure, your highness?” 

Noctis smile turned sheepish as he looked up to his old friend. “Well, I actually have a favor to ask of you…”

/0\

“I’ll drive!” Prompto cried as he pressed the unlock button to his car. The locks to his little junker clicked in response.

“Absolutely not.” Ignis protested, walking straight past the unlocked car.

“Why not?” Prompto whined, crossing his arms defiantly.

“I refuse to be in an enclosed vehicle on such a hot day,” Ignis pulled out his keys and pressed the unlock button. Prompto heard the doors to the car next to Ignis unlock.  “I’ll drive.”

Prompto scoffed, hitting the lock button and hearing his junker beep in response. “Yeah, whatev-“ He gasped when the roof of the car in front of him began to retract. The panels of the roof folded in, and almost suddenly it turned into a convertible car. He gaped as Ignis opened the driver side door and hopped in. “ _This_ is your car?”

Ignis held a satisfied smile. “Indeed. When one travels as much as I do, one must have suitable transportation. I dare say it is one of the few luxuries I afford myself. Hop in, you’ll have to give me directions.”

Prompto crawled into the passenger seat, feeling almost uncomfortable to be sitting in such a nice car. Ignis put the car in drive and they began their trek across the southern portion of the continent. Prompto looked up the directions to Cape Caem on his phone. According to his GPS, it would only take five minutes to reach.

Ignis drove in silence. The advisor was vaguely aware of his pupil, who seemed to have taken to playing a game on his phone. Ignis ground his teeth together before he spoke. “You’re going through an awful lot to try and convince me of this.”

Prompto huffed. “Iggy, come on! Do you really think I’d invite you out here if I was _lying_ to you?” Prompto sunk down in his seat, half crossing his arms as he continued to play his mobile game. “I’m not an idiot, you know.”

Ignis pondered the thought for a moment. Would Prompto really be so relaxed if there was an actor waiting for them at the rendezvous point? “I suppose not,” Ignis stated, disliking the bitter taste in his mouth from his admission. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t be thorough in my examination.”

“By all means,” Prompto smirked. “He’s ready for you. Do whatever you like, as long as you have his consent.”

“I wouldn’t dream otherwise.”

Prompto bit his tongue to prevent himself from laughing, but it didn’t stop the stupid grin he had on his face. Luckily for him, Ignis was too focused on the road to notice.

They pulled up at the parking spot next to a small vendor. The two college-aged men waved sheepishly as they passed it without buying anything, but the guilt was still there. It was always there. They trekked up the hilly path towards the lighthouse, following its twists and turns along the way.

“I’m failing to see how we’ll meet a merman all the way up here.” Ignis adjusted his glasses as he walked, his eyes narrowed in skepticism. 

“Dude, me neither.” Prompto admitted as they reached the base of the lighthouse. The blond looked around, curious on how he was going to find Noctis here, when he noticed something strange.

An elevator shaft. Both men were surprised to see it, seeing as there wasn’t much to see for this particular lighthouse. Ignis gave Prompto a skeptical look before the blond shrugged and hit the elevator call button.

The machine roared to life, and to their surprise the elevator rose from below. Prompto’s anxiety peaked as the elevator came closer and closer. He nearly jumped out of his skin when it arrived with an older man leaning against the railing, his arms crossed and his face firm. “Prompto and Ignis, I presume.”

“You’ve been expecting us?” Ignis glanced at Prompto from the corner of his eye.

Prompto exhaled loudly when he heard his name. “Yeah, that’s us. You’re the guy Noctis wanted us to meet?

Ignis’ rigid shoulders relaxed. He wished that Prompto had told him this detail, but let the situation slide as the man took Prompto’s hand in a firm handshake.

“I’m an old friend of his father,” The mysterious man grinned. “The name’s Cor. Hop on, I’ll take you to the dock.”

“There’s a dock? Here?” Ignis questioned.

Prompto didn’t think to ask any questions. He hopped on the elevator and waved for Ignis to follow.

Curious as this whole situation was, Ignis figured he couldn’t back out now. He stepped onto the elevator and Cor pressed the button that started its descent.

As they traveled down, Ignis couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen this man before. Every time he looked at him, all he could think about were court proceedings, royal events, cabinet meetings, foreign affairs…

 It wasn’t until the elevator reached its destination that realization dawned on him.

“You’re Cor Leonis!” Ignis nearly shouted, effectively causing Prompto to jump. “A political figure for the Tenebraen royal family!”

Cor let out a short laugh, crinkles forming around his eyes. “You’re a sharp one.” Cor straightened his posture, holding himself regally as he addressed the students. “Yes, I’m a politician for the royal family. You could say that’s how I got the pleasure of knowing a certain merman down here.”

“So it’s true?” Ignis felt his stomach tighten as Cor nodded. Ignis shook his head in disbelief.

Prompto excitedly nudged his arm. “I told you, man! I told you!”

His legs moved quickly. Ignis flew down the stairs with Prompto right on his tail, holding onto the railing as he swung his body to race towards the opening to the dock. Ignis stepped out onto the deck to see… nothing.

Ignis turned back to look up politician on the second floor in confusion.

The older man jabbed his thumb towards the water. “He’s down there, taking a nap.”

“Well,” Ignis huffed. It was rude, he thought, to invite over guests and be napping when they arrived.

“You can use those. Noct thought it would be pretty fun.” Cor called down, pointing towards the corner of the room. Ignis and Prompto turned to see a set of scuba diving gear.

Prompto gasped, his jaw nearly hitting the floor. “ ** _Sweet_**!”

Prompto and Ignis slipped into their wetsuits and donned their oxygen tanks. Ignis had done this before many times, whether it be for work or pleasure, but Prompto had obviously not, so the older of the two took the time to brief the younger on proper diving etiquette. Both men were excited though, and Ignis was resigned to the fact that Prompto would be diving in headfirst whether he was ready or not. Either way, Cor promised to keep a close eye on them during their time underwater.

Suited up and goggles donned, the students of the ocean slipped into the cool waters below deck, unaware of what they would find below. Ignis took a moment to make sure Prompto wasn’t immediately drowning. Luckily enough, the young boy seemed to be a natural. He gave Ignis the ok signal, and together they swam deeper to explore the sea bed. 

In a patch of seaweed about three feet tall, Ignis could see an opening. Curious, he swam over the gap in the seaweed and gazed below, and was astonished at what he saw.

He was from the picture; the merman that Ignis had been so sure was a model. He lay peacefully on a bed of seaweed, completely unbothered by Ignis’ presence. Eyes closed and breathing even, Ignis was sure that he must have been in a deep sleep. The grad student carefully moved forward, freezing as the merman adjusted to sleep on his side.

His hair drifted away, and Ignis could see a curious marking behind the merman’s fanned right ear. If he had his glasses he could be sure, but Ignis had a pretty good guess that what he saw behind the ear was a five-pointed star. Following the curve of his neck, Ignis could not deny the gills that were present; three long lines along the side of his next that were adorned with shining black scales.

He was even more beautiful up close.

Slowly the merman’s eyes opened, and Ignis froze. If this were a normal encounter, the merman would be frightened and swim away.

This was anything but a normal encounter.

The merman raised an eyebrow, he flicked his tail to the side as he turn to face Ignis. Ignis tried to calm his breathing as the merman looked him up and down. Words left the merman’s mouth, but Ignis couldn’t comprehend them. He was smiling though: a pleased smile. The merman swam around Ignis, who floated helplessly as he tried to keep his eyes on the divine creature. The merman swam close to Ignis, smirking before turning away and brushing against Ignis’ face with the tip of his tail.

Ignis touched his cheek as he watched the merman swim to the obviously ecstatic Prompto. They greeted each other with a fist bump, and Prompto started pointing to his wet suit and oxygen tank excitedly.

The merman seemed to understand Prompto’s excitement, and together they started swimming around the docks supports.

To Ignis it seemed that they were playing tag.

The merman was obviously a better swimmer, but Prompto was so unpredictable in the water that he caught the merman off-guard many times.

And Ignis was surprised to hear what seemed to be a laugh come from the merman when Prompto eluded his grasp. That’s when the realization dawned on Ignis that he was wrong, that Prompto had been telling the truth.

His best friend was a merman.

Prompto swam in front of Ignis. He pointed to Ignis and then the merman, and then faced Ignis with his fist enclosed over his chest.

Ignis slowly mimicked the action, and in return the merman did it back to him with a small nod of greeting.

It was at this point that the excitement from Prompto was getting to be too much. There was so much he wanted to say, and he had no way to say it underwater, so the blond pointed up to the surface. The merman nodded and swam to the surface with his friend, Ignis close behind.

Prompto was talking as soon as he reached the surface. “That was so amazing! I’ve always wanted to do that!”

“I know.” The merman said cockily as he pulled himself onto the pier, allowing his tail to dangle off the edge and into the water. He watched the water eagerly, waiting for the other human to surface.

Ignis surfaced to Prompto chatting excessively. Removing his googles and respirator, the grad student gazed upon the resting merman with complete wonder and awe. Prompto was right. He was completely right. Probably about so many things. Whatever it was, he was right, he had to be.

He heard it all from the mouth of a merman.

“I guess my job here is done,” The three swimmers looked up to see Cor leaning against the wall. He pushed himself off and gave a two-finger salute. “Enjoy yourself, Noctis.”

“Thanks, Cor.” Noctis called back.

Ignis had remembered a different name given to the merman in the photo, but it occurred to him that it was probably an alias, considering how he hadn’t wanted to meet with him in the first place.

Prompto seemed to miss the entire exchange as he let out a loud gasp. “No way! You already got your tattoo?”

Noctis reached for behind his ear, a small chuckle leaving his lips. “Yeah, check it out.” he brushed his wet hair from behind his ear and leaned closer to Prompto, who stayed in the water.

“It looks so good! I can’t wait to get mine!”

Noctis chuckled again, and for the first-time above water his eyes met with Ignis. The grad student’s stare was so intense that Noctis shifted uncomfortably from the sight. He flicked his tail forward and back before looking at Ignis from behind his bangs. “It’s real, just so you know,” Noctis said shyly, lifting his tail for emphasis. “I’m not a model.”

Ignis gulped and cleared his throat. “Yes, well…”

Noctis smirked, pleased at Ignis’ speechlessness. He gave Prompto a quick grin before motioning to his tail. “Come get a closer look, if you must.”

“Ah, yes. Of course. Prompto, can you get my glasses?”

“Yeah, sure.” Prompto pulled himself out of the water and went in search for his advisor’s glasses.

Ignis slowly swam forward, finding his footing along the peer to stand in front of Noctis. The merman greeted him with a raised eyebrow, causing the grad student to look away momentarily in response. Ignis almost found it funny. He was supposed to be observing this merman, but he couldn’t seem to keep eye contact.

Prompto returned with the glasses and slowly backed away, feeling a bit nervous for his friend as Ignis put on his glasses and drew closer. Ignis pulled his arm out from his wetsuit, exposing half of his chest to the chill breeze that sneaked into the cave.

Noctis’ breath hitched as the man drew closer, his eyes searching up and down his body as if he was memorizing every curve. Noctis cursed himself for agreeing to this, but also found that he didn’t want to back out.

Ignis slowly placed his hand on Noctis’ tail, his thumb rubbing against his black scales.

Prompto gasped and Noctis’ face flushed with heat, but it seemed that the older man did not notice this at all.

“Interesting…” Ignis murmured under his breath as he felt Noctis’ smooth scales from below the hip all the way down to the tip of his fin.

Noctis bit his lip, his mind becoming foggy as he tried not to make a sound.

Ignis’ hand shifted to the backside of his tail, slowly dragging curious fingers across. Ignis’ fingers found something rather interesting; keeled scales along the spine of the tail. Noctis gasped as Ignis followed the line of keeled scales with his fingers, tracing up his tail until he could follow no longer without asking Noctis to move.

Noctis almost wished that he did.

Instead he brought his attention to Noctis’ waist. He brushed his fingers against where his body became fin, and Noctis squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment, only to peak as Ignis brought his face closer to him. Noctis did not tell him to stop as Ignis closely studied the transitional area between skin and scales.

“It seems the skin becomes harder in this area above the scales…” Ignis murmured to himself before looking up to Noctis’ eyes. The merman blinked in surprise as Ignis lifted his hand as if to reach for his face. “May I?”

“Sh… Sure.” Noctis could barely breath as Ignis’ hand drew closer, and he gasped as the hand found its way to his neck. Gently Ignis brushed against his sensitive scales, causing Noctis to involuntarily flick out his tail and hit Ignis.

“Apologies,” Ignis smiled at the action, withdrawing his hand from the merman’s neck. He continued to look at Noctis in awe, which did not help the blush that reddened the merman’s face.

“It’s okay, it was just… involuntary.”

Prompto’s hand was pressed hard against his mouth, preventing him from squealing loudly at what was going on in front of him. Noctis shot his friend a dirty look before Ignis gingerly brushed his thumb across Noctis’ ear.

A chill ran down Noctis’ spine as he looked directly into Ignis’ eyes. They were so green and deep... and so eager for more of him.

Ignis smiled at Noctis. “You are a very impressive creature, if I might say.”

Noctis gulped, turning his head away and giving a halfhearted smirk. “You may.”

Try as he might to remain calm in this situation, Noctis was sure his heart would beat right out of his chest. There was so much touching, more than Noctis had ever experienced, and he wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.

But then the touching stopped. Ignis turned to face Prompto, who sobered up as soon as his mentor faced him. Noctis shot his friend another dirty look as Ignis began to speak. “I must admit I am surprised. No matter how thoroughly I look, it does not change the fact that your friend is an actual, real merman.”

Prompto grinned. “Yeah, told you so. So does this mean…?”

Ignis gave a solid nod. “Indeed. Prompto, you have my support. I will deliver my report on the anonymous merman that you have encountered, and back you up in any further research you undertake. All that I ask in return,” Ignis turned his attention back to Noctis, who was trying to appear coy and unbothered by all that had happened. “Is that I may also benefit from learning from Noctis.”

Noctis turned away from Ignis further. “Yeah, whatever.” He said coolly. Never mind the fact that his face was burnt red from hearing Ignis say his name allowed. His tail swished playfully from side to side as he secretly relished his newfound popularity.

Ignis gave a small chuckle. “Then it’s settled.”

“Yes! Thank you! Thank you so much!” Prompto and Ignis shared a firm handshake, and the deal was set.

Noctis smiled at his friend, his mind at ease now that Prompto’s dilemma was solved. He was happy that he could help, and wished Prompto all the luck in the world in bringing their civilizations closer together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter so much! But I bet you'll love the next one even more ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to comment!  
> I also have a Tumblr under the same username, so feel free to contact me there too.  
> Thank you for reading!


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